jwo1124

To add what RW said about Berkely making several terrible lines. I purchased VANISH fluoro around the time it came out and all the pros were talking about it. I lost more fish in a few outings using that stinkin' line than I have in my ten years of fishing. I started using Triline when I was a youngster because BASS would send me free spools for signing up to their magizine. That's just a little stap I had to take at Berekly ofr losing a couple fish.

Yeah I have a 6' Lighting Rod and I know it's only a 6" difference than the 6'6" rods I'm used to, but the 6' feels a lot differnet in my hands than a 6'6".

I've never broken off a fish, and I've caught 3-4# bass on L power ugly stiks and 4 and 6# test. I've never cranked my drag all the way, I usually just messa round with it until i can pull some line out from holding my line beyond the rod tip and bend the rod up.

How many out there like strike king crankbaits? I tried them this past season and caught quite a few fish on them. I am talking about the Pro Models, not the Tour Grade. I have only used the series 1 and series 3 which dive 2-5 and up to 8' respectively. I have yet to try, or need, to go any larger or deeper. But if anyone has used the series 5 or 6 which go 10-12 and 16' let me know what you thought of them. I know there are probably better cranks out there, but I seemed to find these fitting for what I needed, plus they are less than $4 a piece. I have read only a couple reviews that read that Strike King should stick to spinnerbaits because that one person didn;t like their jigs or cranks too much. I must say though, that I have had luck in the past with their cranks this season, their red eye spinnerbaits two seasons a go, as well as their bleeding bait tube which I caught my runner up personal best bass out of a city pond I fish. I think I may stay brand loyal to Strike King until I find myself dissapointed by their products. They are priced well for the angler on a budget, they have well known, respected professional anglers on their team, and they manufacture just about any bass lure there is.

Alright, because the reel i was looking at had different max drags for different models. 170/8 had a max @ 8.8# 200/10 max @ 8.8# 210/12 max @ 13.2# this sounds about 100-90% but then you have to take into cdonsideration the extra two larger line classes on each of the reels. Usually they list the lightest line they take. so if a reel takes 170 yds. of 8# test, it also takes X yards of 10# and X yards of 12#, so on for the other two reels. So 13.2# max drag is more than enough fishing with 12# but if you had 14 or 17# on the same reel with not as much yards on, then 13.2 max drag is 77% of your line . I'm sure this is more than suffficient though.

I was just checking out a Daiwa reel and it has a maximum drag listed. I have never seen this before. If someone could explain this to me it would be appreciated.

I am in the market for new rods for the upcoming spring. I have been looking for spinning rods capable of throwing heavier lures like 3/4-1oz. I came across the Fenwick GT which has a M power rated 1/8-3/4 and a MH rated 1/4-1. These two rods seem exactly what I am looking for in Bass fishing rods. And at only $50 a piece, by the spring I can save up and get a couple of each if I wanted. I read the reviews on Cabela's and out of 12 reviews the rod has an average of 4.8 stars out of 5. All reviews praised the rod, only one gave 3 stars saying the rod was too stiff, but its a fast action rod, and maybe that user wasn't familiar with fast tapered rods. Anyway, has anyone ever used a Fenwick GT before? How about the better HMX brand rod?

I was just looking at these the other day thinking about which ones to pick up for next spring. I was thinking about getting the bluebill, baby bass, and probably the perch one too. On top of those maybe add a craw and a firetiger. That's already over $35 right there. buying an insurance bait of each kind throws your tab up over $70. This is the only aspect of fishing I don't like.... draining my bank. You don't really need every color, just a couple right colors for the water you are fishing. Since you are doing a lot of pond fishing, like me, I would definately suggest the bluegill and baby bass patterns. One because most of the bass' diet in those pond are probably coming from bluegill and baby bass. On top of that you mentioned that the water you fish is clear, so you want a natural pattern that is not going to throw the bass off. You want to give them just enough color to spot and react to the bait. You don;t need to throw Vegas lights and an amplifier on it, but bright colors in stained water won;t hurt. Like I always say, if a bass can find their prey, which is naturally camoflagued, they'll be able to find a lure in a natural pattern without a problem. Raul struck on a good point. Most of what is going to get a fish to strike your lure is the built in attributes like profile, action, vibration, sound, flash. Then you have to present it in the correct manner: fast, slow, stop start, twitching like an injured prey, burning it by them. If you are planning on getting any DT 10's or 16's I would go with colors that stand out deeper in the water column like blues and purples.

Air temps in the 20's or teens. Wind chill brings it below zero... > 8-12" of ice covering the ponds... > Those are the conditions I fret. Hell, some of your worst fishing conditions sound like ones we would pray for up here in New England. I swear, it gets soooo cold up here in Mid-Late winter that our saltwater bays look like antartica. I'll take a pic and post it later this winter.

Welcome to the site. One of the best best bass fishing resources out there on the web, I ghuess that's how they got their name Anyway, these guys have given you some good advice. I remember hounding my father to take me fishing when I was eleven. I just turned 22 saturday and I still have the same buringpassion for fishing I had when I was 11. First thing you should do is find out how intense your son feels about fishing. I say this because you don;t want to spend hundreds of dollars on lures and tackle if he only wants to go once in awhile. Find out if he watches the fishing shows on TV like on the channel "Versus" where most of the outdoor programs are on the weekends. Ask him who his favorite fishing pro is. Ask him what kind of fishing magizines he knows about. Don;t hesistate to subscribe to a couple of the mentioned fishing mags. You can get a years worth for like $15. This will keep him busy and learning during the week when no fishing programs are on. I used to love thumbing through Bass Master or In-Fisherman whenever I could. On the other hand, your son may not be "that in to" fishing. My brother is like that. He likes to fish when the weather is postcard perfect, but even then if we aren;t catching within an hour he loses all interest. If this is your son, you may just be better off buying a couple of standard rod and reel combos, some hooks, bobbers, and some shiners and night crawlers. This way you dont waste a lot of money on tackle that will not be used. Fishing is great in all aspects. You don;t need to have a bass boat, thousands of dollars worth of lures, and a dozen different rods to be a fisherman. There are people who like to fish just as much as the next guy who get a blast out of tossing out some bait and hanging out until the fishing bite. Other's need that intesnsity of cast after cast after cast with a lure to keep their adrenaline going. Your best bet is just to ask your son questions about fishing to get the picture of how much he knows, how much he wants to know, and how passionate he is about it. He may just be asking you to go fishing just to spend some time with his ol' Dad

If you are up for it, try live crawfish fished on the bottom. Some bait shops have these or you may have to make a special order.

This may be too late of a post since it's past thanksgiving and you;re probably back at the office. I fish a VERY similar pond in my neck on the woods: shallow, small, muddy, and it seems to always have this sub-surface algea mat which makes it almost impossible to use most lures. I have had a lot of luck with topwaters(poppers, buzzbaits, floating rapala) and wacky and texas riggerd plastics thrown to lily pads or other holding areas. Maybe this info can help for next year.

I have been looking at baitcasters and I saw that almost all of them have a minimum line capacity of 12# test. I know that most cranks run deepest and with the best action at 10# test. I doubt that the extra 2# diameter makes a huge difference, but will it make a difference it action and diving depth? The only reason I ask is because I am looking into getting a baitcaster for next season to become a real Basser. It just seems baitcasters and bass fishing go together like coffee and donuts. Spinning gear has done the job so far, but I shouldn;t limit myself just because I might get a backlash once in awhile. Plus I have also notice that baicasters are 50-100% lighter than there same capacity/line size spinning counter parts, which is just more comfortable.

Thanks for that advice Fluke. It helps. I definately have to start working the bottom more. Being a bank fisher I find it hard because once you cast out and let the lure sink even a few feet and work it back, you are missing a lot of ground right belows where your lure lands on the cast. Saying, if you cast your lure into water that is 6-8 feet deep, and the fish are relating to the bottom, and you are pulling your lure right over their head, they may not come up that extra 3-5 feet to chase that lure. I just dont really have confidence in techniques like drop shot, carolina, and bottom bouncing. Guess I should put it some practice with these techniques.

One of the three ponds I mainly fish is spring fed...so I've heard by an older guy that I spoke to one day. That's why I think there can be a lot of hold over stockies here. Plus, it has been very very windy here for the past week. We had a couple nice mild autumn days in the high 50's, but then once you get to the water the wind is blowing 15-20 and the air temp drops easy by at least 10 degrees. I just wasn't sure about the technicalities of Dissolved Oxygen, decomposition, and plankton kill. I hve a broad understanding of it all, but don;t really know exactly is going on, biologically speaking. I know that the warm water fish will slow down, so they probably don;t need as much O2 as the did during the warmer months which makes sense. I was just worried because I haven;t been seeing any signs of, or catching, the cold water trout and salmon they stock. That's why I was questioning the O2 levels because this seems liek the weather these fish thrive in. My only other theory is that since it has been so windy, the water is probably getting churned up, and it is probably harder for the fish to see their prey as they search for food, since the water movement breaks up visibility. Maybe the majority of the fish feed earlier in the AM before the wind picks up. Maybe this isn;t the case either, just a thought,

I have seen this thing for awhile and always looked at it as a gimmik, but after reading some reviews of the thing, I am thinking this could help me while fishing from shore. Has anyone seen or heard anything about these. For those not familiar it comes with a small green floating transducer that you cast out into a spot and it reads like any other sonar. Here's a link: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Subclass_10151_-1_10001_200001001_200000000_200001000_image_1_0 I am wondering how well this product is. it seems you would have to cast it to each spot you were actually going to cast to to see the specs. on each place. I don;t know if this thing would spook the fish constantly splashing in on top of them.

Has anyone used these things. I was looking on getting one for my small electric powered boat so I would be able to see depth and bottom contour. I'm not sure how well these would work for an actual fish finder because the articles I read say it only has a 6 degree cone which is pretty small. Any comments are very welcome

I'm sure plenty of you guys have seen these. They are large pieces of mesh in a cone shape that you through over the side of your boat and it helps keep your boat in place while in the wind. I have a 12' aluminum that always gets pushed around by the wind, so utilizing one of these would be a big help especially for fishing in more open deeper water. Any reviews or reccommendations on these things?

That's a relief then. I was just putting to use what I had learned in Environmental Science. SO much for that though

Ok, I know that during fall most of the leaves fall off the trees around bodies of water, the aquatic vegetation starts to die, and phytoplankton die. The two latter occurances: the plankton and aquatic veg. kill can lower the amount of O2 that is being produced in the water. Along with the diminishing amount of O2 being produced, the decompostion of the aquatic plants is a big consumer of O2. SO here we have less O2 being produced and more O2 being consumed. This can cause and oxygen defecit in ponds. Today I noticed A LOT of the leaves from the trees surrounding a local pond are falling into the shallows of the pond where they sit on the bottom or float on the surface. Is it logical to say that these dead leaves falling into the pond are also being decomposed and thus usingh even more O2 in the process? I haven;t been catching or seeing much fish while fishing the shallows(less than 10' deep) in the past couple weeks. And I am starting to think that all the decomposition off aquatic plant life and the fallen leaves is sucking up all the O2 in these areas. I have learned though that the colder the water the more O2 it can hold. So will there be a blancing act here? Even though more O2 is being used by decomp. more O2 is actually in the water so the effects of the decomp. may not be that bad. Plus I have learned that wind stirs up surface water making it more suseptable to oxygen diffusing into the surface water. And it has been very windy here. Any thoughts on this?

Hey Crest, I belong to this massachusetts forum and I saw that big ol bass on one of the threads that was taken out of there. http://www.maanglers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5 Wow, I didn't think the water temps were that low. I was fishing for about an hour today before it started to DOWN POUR, and I felt the water with my hand and it it didn't feel "that" cold. I would said around high 50's. Seriously, I haven't seen it rain that much in awhile. But it's good because the ponds around here are extremely low. It's weird because I was fishing the pond the last two weeks of october and there were still tons of bluegill around the shoreline, as well as small bass. But I couldn;t get anything big from the shoreline. I caught a few small rat bass, some small pickerel, and bluegills, but nothing decent. I've been to this pond a few times this month and I can;t seem to get anything. They stock it with trout twice a year and there just doesn't seem to be that much action when I go. I heard the stockies like to school and just circle the pond foraging, so you;re suppose to toss out your powerbait, float it off the bottom for a few hours and hope to get a few when the school goes by. I can;t stand that though. I don;t have the patience, I need to be actively fishing.

I feel you man. I have been fishing three or four times in the past couple weeks shore angling at my local ponds in MA and I can;t get a thing either. Funny thing is that they stock this one pond with trout twice a year and I still can;t get a thing. My only guess is that in the shallows all the weeds and veg. are dying off causing an Oxygen depletion. Match this with all the leaves falling into the water and dying, and you have a lot of decomposition going on. Anyone who has taken a high school bio class knows that decomp. uses lots of oxygen. This is my only theory. I think for us northern anglers shore bass'n is out of the picture for now. I think the bass are moving to deeper waters towards the middle of the pond or lake. I have been fishing from shore with inlines and smaller rapalas along with spoons for trout the past month and haven;t gotten one trout.

Does anyone find themselves changing lures/techniques alot while fishing. From all the articles I have read there are different lures/presentations that are best for a given spot or time of year, or time of day etc. So, on a given day do you guys find yourselves changing things up alot? Do you just pick one or two patterns and fish a specific technique? Or do you just pick a couple lures andlet them dictate where and how you fish? Even though I have indulged myself in fishing with a mind like a sponge for almost ten years now, in the fishing world I am still pretty much a noobie considering that you can fish well into old age, which I am a far way from. So, I am still trying to learn as much as possible since most of my bass fishing was originally with crawlers and shiners, the past few years I have been getting into bank beating with artificials but being confinded to the shoreline for alot of my fishing was really hindered my evolving. It seems like my knowledge of fishing is starting to surpass my experience since I am stuck on shore most of the time. And even when I get to get out on the water it's only in an electric powered 12' row boat. It's better than nothing, and I guess it's a good start, but I want more out of a passion as great as fishing. As we all do. Just looking for as much advice, tips, info as possible, and I know this is the best place for it.

I think pound for pound pickerel are a great fighting fish. The only thing I dislike about catching them is that they don't ware out. They keep flopping around, and in most cases digging the hooks deeper into their mouths and in other cases hooking more of the trebles into them. Gotta give it to them though, they are fighters.

I know this is a day late, and either youa re fishing now or you;re sitting at work, but you gotta think even if the air temp drops 20 degrees in a day, that's not going to affect the water temps that much, in turn not affecting the fish that much. If it stays 50 for a few days then it may have an impact, but there air temps will plays a bigger role on you than the bass. Plus the overcast day will bring them off the bottom and out of cover. By the way, I wish it were 70 degrees up here. The past two days have been warm(low 60's) The past week has been in the 50's, dropping to the low 30's at night.